Antichrist

Akercocke reminds me of Horror Music, especially with all the creepy clean passages and the demonic extreme bits. The way the riffs are made are creepy sounding too, and wouldn't sound out of place in a horror movie. This could be a perfect soundtrack to any satanic/occult horror movie. A lot of the clean passages just keep building suspense until BAM! The extreme black/death metal hits you out of nowhere with such intensity, like a demon popping out of nowhere to kill you. It sounds funny the way I describe it, but it reminds me so much of Horror Music.

Antichrist has been described to many as a letdown compared to “Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone”. Many could say there are too many experimental twists, like the intro “Black Messiah” which reversed has quite the vulgar message. A lot of people think the intro is useless, but I think its perfect for setting the prelude to the slaughter almost, when “Summon the Antichrist” comes in, it hits you hard. Another example is “The Promise” which is one chord played over and over spoken words, which lead to a really atmospheric song, It feels like the interludes have an actual purpose, to build atmosphere and feel like actual songs. Basically, “Antichrist” is supposed to be more of an Atmospheric and maybe even experimental compared to “Words That Go Unspoken...”

The instrumentation is incredible here, Jason Mendonca's and Matt Wilcock's riffing here is simple a lot of the time, but perfect for such intensity. They also provide solos which actually don't ruin the song or the atmosphere here. David Gray is such an virtuous drummer, displaying fast yet technical drumming, providing excellent and tasteful fills, adding a few twists like blasting over an acoustic clean verse in “Axiom”. Jason Mendonca also does vocals, and he has an amazing vocal range. He can switch between brutal death growls, to black metal shrieks, to powerful shouting, to just singing melodically. The songwriting isn't just wankery or just trying to be unique, it all works here, and Akercocke knows when to switch to passages while still remaining unpredictable.

The production might also be a letdown compared to “Words That Go Unspoken...” It sounds a bit muddy here, but everything here is still clear (Except for the bass), and it doesn't detract from the sound as well. The lyrics here are definitely satanic, not in the Deicide “I hate God” edgy teenage angst way, but done in a british charm, a mature yet still sinister manner. This suits the whole image the band provokes, wearing formal suits makes the band look more sophisticated, even if it is a gimmick.

I consider “Antichrist” to be as good as, or even better than “Words That Go Unspoken...” “Antichrist” was a bit more experimental and progressive than the last, but it does not let down for sure. The music is still the same Akercocke since “Chronozon” though. Its amazing how the band matured from a generic black/death metal act to this now, one can only await what happens in their next album hopefully.